Our Habitat

SAVE PLANET &
EARTHLINGS

By Nazuk
Ahluwalia

Sooner or
later, we will have to recognise that the Earth
has rights, too. What mankind must know is
that human beings cannot live without Mother
Earth, but the planet can live without humans.
– Eva
Morens

A Down to
Earth’s (DTE) fourth annual report on the
state of India’s environment is an
eye-opener to the innumerable issues plaguing our
country as well as the current developments in
line with those issues. The report is divided into
10 different chapters with articles written by
distinguished experts from the field of
science and environment.

The report brings to
foray the trajectory of environmental discourse in
the political as well as the public arena and
highlights how economic growth has had a huge
impact on the environment. The report advocates
for harmonising discussions between growth and
climate change by effectively picking up concerns
as diverse as forests, sanitation, health, rural
development and energy.

According to the report,
budget allocations for forests in the form of
Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act and the 14th
Finance commission are good incentives to
protect forest cover but the dilution of various
provisions of the Forest Rights Act 2006 by
different state governments to facilitate
industrial activity are worrisome. Also alarming
is the mismatch in demand and supply of timber and
wood based products particularly due to the
failure of natural forests as well as the Forest
Development corporations in meeting the demand.
The per hectare production from FDC Lands are as
low as 0.77 cubic metre.

On the wildlife front,
the Tiger got widespread attention in terms of
schemes and projects but is contradicted by the
nod to widen the NH7 at the Maharasthra-Madhya
Pradesh border which will destroy the Pench-kanha
tiger corridors. Also a paradox to India’s
wildlife concern is the declaration of certain
species such as nilgai and wild boar as vermins
thereby allowing them to be
culled.

The report highlights
the urgent need to strengthen laws on illegal
trading of various species which is done on the
sly and is on a steady rise. Better management and
judicious use of resources is the need of the
hour.

Rural development with
regard to the recent demonetization and its impact
on farmers is a saddening account which
underscores how cooperatives dependent on a cash
economy are bearing the brunt. The
government’s crop Insurance scheme also
scored low with informal debt market being
completely ignored . Its poor performance is
justified by the dismal percentage of farmers
opting for agri-insurance , many state’s
refusal to implement the scheme fearing a high
fiscal burden as well as the failure of the scheme
to be implemented on an individual
basis.

However, the report
applauds the digital successes in the agro economy
with many platforms like CropIn Technology,
KrishiDoot and Trringo providing unique services
to farmers in terms of monitoring farms with
repect to the amount of fertilizers sprayed,
weather information, procurement of animal feed,
tractors on hire etc.

Climate Change analysis
with regard to the rise of Donald Trump
doesn’t seem positive since the United
States is keen on dismantling the Clean Power Plan
and boosting fossil energy production. The Paris
Agreement also dismantled the principle of common
but differentiated responsibilities with the onus
of degradation shifting onto the developing
world.

The report positively
acknowledges India’s effort to leapfrog to
BS VI emission standards in 2020 which wil enable
effective curbs on Particulate matter
emissions on both petrol and dieseal vehicles and
also provide two-wheelers with on-board engine
diagnostics system.

It also advocated for
systematic replacement of traditional cookstoves
with LPG to eliminate deadly exposure among
children in rural India. India’s flood
managing capacity as well as risk reduction is
dismal despite the multiplication of extreme
climate variability to which education is the only
solution.

The public health sector
is marred by a rise in the disease landscape with
Maluntrition. TB, Cancer cases plummeting every
year. The sanitation levels are miserable with the
government focus on infrastructure and apathy to
the differing needs of different villages.The
government interventions in the form of Mental
healthcare bill , Surrogacy regulation Bill and
amendents to the maternity act are welcome
initiatives nevertheless.

The report truly is an
informational read on the state of the environment
but its lucidity is often marred by the
bombardment of facts and therefore is not for the
average reader. It nevertheless brings to the
forefront what it truly wishes to represent
– the challenge of equitable and affordable
growth.